'The only thing that I have liked from Pakistan'---singer Nazia Hassan and Zoheb Hassan.....and I grew up listening to their songs , especially from the movie 'Star' . When one cassette ( it was the era of music cassettes ) broke down from overuse , I forced my father to buy another one...and in the end the cassettes stopped being available in music shops , to my eternal chagrin...
So when the era of the internet came to my home , the first thing I searched was the songs of 'Star' on youtube...and imagine my joy when I found them...just listened to them over and over again...my childhood fascination with glamour started with the songs---because they were among the first hindi pop songs , some of them fit to be listened to in discos and nightclubs....

But the movie itself was another thing ; it was a major flop at the box office...the only thing that was worth remembering was the songs....
However , the movie is available on youtube....and it being available on youtube , one day I was bound to see it....and as I was bound to see it , I was bound to review it....so here it is , the review....

Once you see the movie , it is easy to understand why it was such a flop . While the story has some substance , it is hampered by bad direction , sloppy editing , bad dialogues and bad acting . The fights feel not altogether badly shown , but that is because you compare with the horrible choreography when dancing on the songs . And the dancing is truly horrible . Some of the dance moves look like P T exercises !! Left right up down---the hands go and so do the faces....is this really dancing ? Totally laughable....

The story is that of a young man ( Kumar Gaurav ) obsessed with music , so much so that he dreams of being the next Elvis Presley . He is kicked out from a job because he is more interested in listening to music on his walkman ( yeah , it was era of walkmans ) rather than working . He tries to get a job as singer at a disco called Club 54 , but is rebuffed by the arrogant owner ( Saeed Jaffrey ) . Then he goes to Charlie's disco and is mesmerised by the singing of the singer there ( Rati Agnihotri ) . Not surprising , because she is singing 'Boom Boom' playbacked by Nazia Hassan , one of my all time favourite songs . Rati introduces him to Charlie , the owner of the disco . His singing in turn mesmerises them both ( he sings 'Ooie Ooie' , another likable song sung by Zoheb Hassan ) , and he lands a job as singer in the disco .

As Kumar Gaurav's singing attracts crowds in the hordes , so does the popularity of Charlie's disco go up , and the moolah begins to roll in Kumar's pockets . His parents are not happy with his singing in clubs , because it was 1982 and India was mired in the depths of socialism ; clubs and discos were considered symbols of the capitalistic west and it's westernization . But Kumar's brother ( Raj Kiran ) supports him .

But there is another danger lurking , and that is the growing jealousy of the owner of club 54 ; his disco is running half empty because everyone is flocking to Charlie's for Kumar's singing . Saeed tries to entice Kumar to his disco with greater pay , but Kumar refuses . So Saeed has Kumar beaten up and his voice choked . But Raj Kiran takes revenge on those who beat his brother by soundly trashing them one by one . Rati and Raj come close in all this and fall in love , shattering Kumar who is in love with Rati .

But they all have to unite when Saeed's men come together to attack Raj and he has to be hospitalised ; this happening on the very day Kumar has to sing on national television , something that will make him what he dreamt of being---a Star what else...and get the love of another girl who has been angling for him---Padmini Kolhapure , who is more of an afterthought in the film as her role is very small .

In the midst of all the juvenile direction , I found myself lost once again in the songs....and it seems I will never tire of listening to them again and again....it is as if in the midst of all the socialism in my childhood I was secretly dreaming of a capitalistic liberation !! of westernisation !! of dancing with beautiful babes in the discos and nightclubs !! of grooving to rock and pop music !!...happily , my dreams came true after I grew up....

However the movie is rank bad , you have to admit that....but as I saw it for my first and only time , I was on a trip of nostalgia....and thanking music director Biddu for all the music !!

I remember seeing this on screen. One comment i made was 'There are a lot of cars parked'. Meaning it was an upper class kind of a movie. It was 'Hat ke' for those days featuring on pop. we used to see ads of one Kallu group called Osibisa. That also features briefly in this one. Kumar Gaurav is checking out their ad.

i have the MP3s of this. Will also check on the youtube sometime ( Aadmi our Insaan reccomended by Swami pai is higher in the list though).

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This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang

Did you watch Jolly LLB2? pathtic movie. Not half as comic as the original one. Why did they choose Akshay over Arshad? One of the strengths of such movies is compromised bigtime when there are stars who take the attention away from the strengths of the story, acting, etc.

But lately Akshay has been overacting almost like Shahrukh.
The problem is he is financing his own films so he bosses with the writers and directors for his role.

employee or owner.. easy answer is to become owner when possible, which is what all these bollywood actors/stars are doing, there's big money in distribution, controlling the rights, etc.. only acting gives you peanuts.

BTW, third class actor (even in b grade films) Shekhar Suman was jumping with glee at the BO failure of Rangoon. Many including Bhatt, Pancholi, Hashmi, Suman have enjoyed her when she was a beginner. Now when she has a position and is calling her shots, losers are having issues.

This film features cute actress Rhea Chakravborty playing the role of Sonali---a marathi girl from the Mumbai chawls who dares to enter the big bad world of the cable operator business . Now I have seen cable operations owners at close quarters and all of them are guarded by sten gun welding bodyguards . So what is such a cute gal doing in the cut throat cable operator business , where every cable operator tries to encroach on other's territory leading to violence ? Well , like a typical Mumbai maratha gal , Sonali is fiesty and fire spirited , even though she has to look enticing and inviting to the film's audience exposing a bit of flesh in navel showing and cleavage baring and tight figure hugging tops .

Hell , she's even got the right credentials for her spiritedness , for her father is a former goon who boasts of having taken part in every riot that Mumbai has ever had . And he's got a surname fitting for a goon---Tandel . And Sonali Tandel may be only 10 standard pass , but her father has given her all the leeway to do anything she wants , including angling for the boy she loves since childhood . And that is Raghu , played by Ali Fazal . He is the local politician's ( played by Smita Jaykar ) son and has a major stake in Sonali's cable operator business . His mother cannot control his love for Sonali , and he can't bear to see his mom smoking cigarettes . Mom returns the favour by calling Sonali her daughter and therefore her son's sister , thereby declaring her opposition to the match .

Enter the big bad cable network owner Waghela , played by Anupam Kher . He tries every trick in the book through his slick agent to take over Sonali cable but fails , finally resorting to real violence . His goons kill Sonali's right hand man ( Played by Raghav Juyal ) who is more than like family to her , shattering her personally . Waghela's men then wean away Sonali's workers by offering higher pay , and try to shoot dead Raghu her love . But they have forgotten the old saying--hell hath no fury like woman wronged....

Sonali hatches a plan to take revenge on Waghela , but does she succeed ? Watch the movie for the answers . Meanwhile , Rhea plays a chawl grown Mumbai marathi gal perfectly . Her language from the chawls , her marathi accent while speaking hindi---all is perfect . Her non ability to speak english is even more perfect . Forty become 'phourty' and fifty becomes 'phiphty' when spoken from her mouth . She is sweet and sassy and endearing . Her gang of workers from Sonali cables are a boisterous bunch from the chawls ; they dance unsophisticatedly and they talk the language of the Mumbai street . But the 'jaan' of the film is Sonali as acted by Rhea Chakraborty . The whole film revolves around her .

The pace of the film does loosen up towards the end . Anupam Kher as Waghela is more like a comic book villain---more funny than menacing . Songs and background music are okay . Colours and photography and good . The drama in the film however cannot be called high octane .

Verdict---one time watch .

Two and a half stars out of five .

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In all of Amir Khan's films his hard work shows . PK is no exception .
A lot of toil and hard work has been put into every scene , into every dialogue , and into every expression on Amir's face . He certainly carries the whole weight of the film on his capable shoulders , but I would not dare say that he does this effortlessly....
In fact , he has done a lot of effort in fleshing out every scene , and so has the director .

Of course , Amir's trademark expression---that of gouging his own eyeballs almost out their sockets while staring at people---has been tried out before from films like 'Ghulam' to 'Rang de basanti' , but here it did not strike me as odd like it struck me in the earlier two films.....for in this film he plays the role of an alien who has landed on earth , and since everything is new to him on this planet , it is not surprising to see him staring at things with wide eyed awe and amazement and wonder .

And his inability to comprehend things , or more rather his 'alien' way of comprehending things that occur on earth in a different way , gives rise to some really laughable situations especially in the first half of the movie keeping you in splits for some time . This happens because his remote transmitter for communicating with his mother ship gets stolen by a human being immediately after he lands on earth , and he has to spend a lot of time on earth to try get it back---time that he spends discovering new things and giving his own spin on understanding them ; a spin that seems ridiculously funny in the first half but becomes intelligent in the second half of the movie.....so intelligent that powerful people are shaken when begins to question them....

Inevitably , for an alien like him the chief question is human beings' belief in God.....and his own vain search for that God in the hope that God would help him get back his stolen remote transmitter is what gives rise to the funny situations . But his landing on this planet from his mother ship in completely naked condition , his learning about humans' need to cover themselves with clothes , his inability to speak any of the earth's languages and his eventual acquisition of the ability to speak not in any sophisticated language but a queer rural dialect of the Indian state of Rajasthan---all speak volumes about the extraordinary ability of the director ( Raj Kumar Hirani ) to entertain us and the stupendous acting ability of Amir himself .

In the midst of his travails on earth , Amir meets the woman who would eventually make him feel like not wanting to leave this planet ever---Anushka Sharma . Her hairstyle ( what in India is commonly called by those like me who are ignorant in women's hairstyling techniques as 'Bob cut' ) put me off for a while , but gradually I warmed up to it .

And Anushka is the one who discovers the explosive potential of Amir's different but mindblowing take on humans' belief in God , and his ability to hit the bulls eye in questioning the manner in which humans of different religions worship different gods , and the manner in which godmen act as middlemen to rake in financial and other profits while devotees are lured into a fools' paradise of fake promises and false hopes . And like the savvy television anchor that she is , she decides to convert all this in a television show....
But what Anushka does not know is that what happens on the television show would affect her own life....for she has her own past....

So will Amir the lovable alien be able to get back to his planet ?? And will his sojourn on our planet irreversibly change our belief in the way we worship God ?? Does Anushka make an impact on Amir or he will make an impact on her ??
Watch the movie for the answers....

There is no doubt that this is a highly intelligently made film , and it has been made to make us think . It delivers the entertainment and the churning of our minds in equal doses . And it never fails to make us laugh---at our own stupid beliefs . Above all it takes on those manipulative peddlers of religion called godmen , and it takes on them with aplomb . And it never fails to engage the audience---to the very last reel .

Some scenes like a person wearing the clothes of the Hindu God Shiva running away from Amir and cowering in the midst of a crowd may not be liked by orthodox persons , but I didn't mind them . I am not a religious person by nature anyway....
If you are expecting the film to be anti hindu like the hindu nationalists are complaining , your experience will be underwhelming....In fact I found nothing anti hindu in the movie . If you are a believer in some godman and find the film anti your religious beliefs , then your belief in the godman is your own stupidity anyway.....

Of course , the part of Anushka's boyfriend ( Sushant Singh ) being Pakistani is clearly aimed at winning over the Pakistan/middle east audience and earning more moolah . Somewhere it hurts to give our Indian girls in marriage to Pakistanis who regularly send terrorists to attack India , and I didn't like that part .

Once again Amir Khan has put heart and soul in acting for a film , and once again he is a winner . Hopefully he shall continue that for years to come....

If you are expecting the film to be anti hindu like the hindu nationalists are complaining , your experience will be underwhelming....In fact I found nothing anti hindu in the movie . If you are a believer in some godman and find the film anti your religious beliefs , then your belief in the godman is your own stupidity anyway.....

I would disagree with that (as i do for a lot of things). It is not just the Anti hindu angle. It is Aamir Khan being self righteous and giving uncalled for Sermons. Let me start with other Hirani Films -

Lage Raho Munnabhai was right on in assailing superstition and all the numerology. These are not age old beliefs. And the concept was interesting (like PK) of How Gandhiji would handle various situations. There is a good chance he might not have sent flowers and get well cards, but we can live with that in a fictional film.

Then comes 3 idiots where sermonizing begins.
One batchmate who is an Engineer working in a Bank wanted to file a complaint somewhere about calling such people as donkeys, but a lot asked her to chill. He also mocks Sharman Joshi's worshipping. A lot of successful people worship. A lot of people do not. It is one's individual choice. And How premier engineering colleges run is grossly misrepresented.

And now on PK.

Starts by mocking a traditional name - Jagat Janani. I know a Madrasi Colleague whose daughter's name was Janani.
tries to create awkward situations like Coconuts in a Church, white dress could be for widows and tries to show that people are devotees or follow gurus only for insecurity. It also generalizes that all gurus or keepers of temples are cheats.

'Water' is far less offensive than this one. It had to be shot in Sri Lanka.

__________________
This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang

PK
his inability to speak any of the earth's languages and his eventual acquisition of the ability to speak not in any sophisticated language but a queer rural dialect of the Indian state of Rajasthan---all speak volumes about the extraordinary ability of the director ( Raj Kumar Hirani ) to entertain us and the stupendous acting ability of Amir himself .

He actually speaks in Bhojpuri, which he acquires from a sex worker. Further details are not mentioned else, there would have been protests by UP and Bihar walas too.
It is Sanjay Dutt who speaks in a Rajasthani dialect.

__________________
This is quite a game, politics. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends,only permanent interests. - Some Firang

Love games is another thriller with bold sexual content from the stable of producer Mahesh Bhatt---called Vishesh films . The film centres around three pained individuals with a scarred past . All are rich with no need for striving to earn money , which gives them plenty of time to ruminate over their past and liven up their future playing love games ( what else )....

It begins with the murder by Ramona Raichand ( played by Patralekha ) of her abusive husband . Even in her childhood she has been sexually abused by her uncle . This has turned her into a woman who just has sex for pleasure with both men and women , but who does not understand love .

Her obsession for sex is Sameer Saxena ( played by Gaurav Arora ) also called Sam . He too has been scarred by his mother running away from his father with another man in his childhood . He too does not believe in love due to this . Ramona invites him for threesomes including another girl . But Sam gets bored of threesomes .

Seeing his boredom Ramona invites him to play love games , a game in which they try to have sex with the people they meet in parties....and the one who gets to be in bed first is the winner . This is as hedonistic as it gets and should be called sex games frankly . Added to this debauchery is intake of drugs . But when Sam wins by using various devious tricks Ramona pulls a gun and fires at him repeatedly though missing him . She is at least exceptionally hot tempered if not a psycho .

Sam is also a bit crazy , deliberately hurting himself by cutting his hands using sharp knives to forget the past of his mother running away . His psychiatrist asks him to find true love in order to escape from this .

And true love comes , with the entry of the third pained individual---Alisha Asthana ( Tara Alisha Berry ) , whose husband is suspicious of her loyalty and physically abuses her . Ramona asks Sam to play love games with Alisha , but Alisha who is a doctor shows Sam her patients---people who suffer real physical pain . And he realises how shallow his pain was . Life then takes a u turn for Sam and he becomes the person who Alisha runs to every time her husband beats her . And the inevitable happens---they fall in love .

But Ramona who desires Sam physically cannot bring herself to let him go to another woman completely , and she forces him to be with both women on pain of revealing about the romance to Alisha's husband . But sex games have turned into pure love for Sam and he wants to break free from Ramona's hold . And dreams of freeing Alisha from her husband clutches .

So how does the much in love couple of Alisha and Sam manage to find togetherness after extricating themselves of their erstwhile partners ? Watch the movie for that .

The movie is worth watching for the red hot kissing and uninhibited smooching scenes that adorn it at regular intervals . The atmosphere is as modern and westernised as it gets . And the air is heady with sexual liberation and narcotics . The movie moves at a fast pace with quick twists and turns in the story . Only towards the climax does it falter . But people remember a novel's beginning and a movie's ending....and with the movie's ending being not so great you come out with only a okayish impression of the film .

Photography is good , colours are flashy , and clothes worn by the protagonists are dazzling . Background music is superb and songs are worth hearing again and again . The women look good as they should in such a movie and wear revealing clothes . Acting by everyone is decent . But why a hero ( Gaurav Arora ) who looks like cheapo from the streets ? Couldn't they find someone more presentable as male lead ?